Chapter 8September 22, 1971

Indeed, she has not accepted your influence alone.

No, she’s taken it and mixed it with others. That’s why things go like this (gesture of jumbled confusion).

(Mother goes within for a long time)

We are in full transition: it is no longer this, it is not yet that. And the concentration of force is greater and greater.

(silence)

A strange experience. It’s a strange experience. The body feels it no longer belongs to the old way of being, but it knows that it is not yet in the new one and that it is.... It is no longer mortal and it is not yet immortal. It’s quite strange. Very strange. And sometimes I go from the most dreadful discomfort to... a marvel – it’s strange. An unutterable bliss. It’s no longer this, and it’s not yet that. Well. Bizarre (Mother nods her head).

(silence)

There is a sort of promise of an overwhelming Power, and at the same time signs of such weakness – not weakness: disorganization. Disorganization, and at the same time the sense of an overwhelming Power. So the two are like this (gesture of being in a precarious balance). It’s a disorganization in the sense that if I don’t pay attention, I can’t eat, for instance. I have to pay attention, I have to be concentrated all the time, concentrated in order to do things. Sometimes, not a word in my head, nothing; sometimes I see and know what is happening everywhere. It’s like this (same gesture as on a ridge).

I have to be careful when I am with people, otherwise they would think I am going crazy! (laughter)

It’s really peculiar. A sort of total impotence and an overwhelming power side by side. And the results of the overwhelming power are sometimes visible in people here and there: all of a sudden, miraculous things happen. But at the same time... sometimes I can’t even eat. It’s strange. (Mother laughs)

It goes on, there’s nothing new to say. It’s like this: sometimes marvelous, sometimes really unpleasant.... But the body is making progress, that is, it knows better how to remain constantly But... (words are stupid), but I could say that the Divine intervention is becoming increasingly visible (words are stupid, it’s not that; but it’s all we can say, all words are stupid).

What do you have to say?

Not much. There’s some interesting news. You’ve heard of André Malraux, the French writer?

Yes.

I believe he even came here to Pondicherry to see you. He has made a statement on the radio, and you know, he’s a man who carries a lot of weight internationally: when he says something, he is listened to all over the world. So on French radio, he made a statement (you know that he was a minister under de Gaulle for a long time), a statement in favor of Bangladesh. He says:

The Indian Express, September 20, 1971

At 69, Malraux offers to fight in the ranks of Bangladesh. He says, “I receive many letters from young people who write: if you form a foreign legion, we are ready to fight for Bangladesh.”

Malraux admits he is too old to serve in the infantry, but he claims he could serve in a tank. “One cannot seriously help Bengal by merely talking in its favor,” he says. “One should go there in person and fight for her.”

Malraux acknowledged, of course, that India had been created by nonviolence, but in the present case, that kind of tactics is not possible. “You are facing a Vietnam. Either you fight and you will have the whole world on your side, or you don’t fight and the cause is lost.”

“While intellectuals are signing petitions in good faith, the Pakistanis are throwing tanks into the battle. Consequently, the only serious thing is the defense of Bengal. Do it intellectually if you like, but with the support of combat.”

(Mother nods her head several times

and goes within for a half hour.

Then Satprem gets ready to leave

and Sujata approaches Mother)

This can go on for hours....

(Sujata:) Mother, what does a white peacock with a golden tail mean?

Ooh! That must be the supramental victory. A white peacock is the integral victory; a golden tail is the supramental realization.... Did you see that?

Satprem saw it.

(Satprem:) I saw it last night.

Why, that’s splendid! It’s splendid. It announces the victory. What were you meditating on?